Distance
by Pockybox
Summary: It’s been a while since Tezuka’s been gone and Ryoma contemplates the relationship between them to fill the time – that and fiddling around with his web cam.


Author's Notes: This story actually turned out nothing like I planned it to. I kept editing and editing and finally it wound up something like this. I think I narrated waay to much. I wanted to write a Tezuka/Ryoma story for a while but I think my characterization needs to be developed… oh well.. practice right?

Disclaimer: Prince of Tennis and all characters belong to Konomi Takeshi.

Pairings: Tezuka x Ryoma

Summary: It's been a while since Tezuka's been gone and Ryoma contemplates the relationship between them to fill the time – that and fiddling around with his web cam.

Distance

The house was filled with an appreciative silence as Ryoma sat in front of his computer screen, briskly typing a short email response. His eyes quickly re-read the carefully typed out paragraph before hitting the enter button. The little envelope flew into the folder several times before it affirmed "Message Sent."

Ryoma sighed softly. It had been days since he last played his match against Sanada. It had been even longer since one Tezuka Kunimitsu had left for Germany. Since Tezuka had left, the two of them had been exchanging infrequent emails and even more infrequent letters. Ryoma had spoken to him exactly once over the phone but with seven regulars all eager to fill Tezuka in on trivial bits of gossip and updates, Ryoma could hardly get a word in.

Truthfully, Ryoma had no idea where he stood with Tezuka-buchou. Much like himself Tezuka Kunimitsu was not the easiest person in the world to read. Regardless, Tezuka had qualities which drew people towards him whether he wanted it or not and lately Ryoma was becoming more distracted by the esteemed captain, even more so in his absence. Just before his departure, the two of them had engaged in several outings, all of which were suggested on impulse. Initially, neither of them had thought very much about the additional time spent together outside of school and tennis practices. As the time spent increased, the freshman silently questioned himself but dismissed the thoughts as quickly as they came. He didn't dislike Tezuka, so he saw no reason for this to discontinue.

Ryoma could only assume that since Tezuka willing agreed to these meetings that he at least understood and could return a little of what Ryoma thought he might offer. The aforementioned outings usually consisted of unofficial tennis matches and rallies. Matches were usually followed by a quick snack at a ramen stand or a hamburger before retreating home.

An ability to recognize even the smallest of details was only one the character traits the two shared. The had quite a few things in common but there were in enough differences between them to make time spent more .. interesting.

Flash back

_Once they had sat side by side at the counter of a ramen stand, eating in silence. Two pairs of chopsticks 'clicked' softly as they enjoyed their meal. Ryoma had the uncanny ability of looking disinterested in just about anything while he was deeply absorbed._

_He paused for a second just to be sure. There it was again._

_Tezuka set down his chopsticks. Without turning to face Echizen or even opening his eyes for that matter he asked, "What is it?"_

_Ryoma smirked._

"_I had always pegged you as such a serious guy. It's just interesting to see you in a more childish light."_

_The captain gave him a questioning look._

"_You slurp your noodles," Ryoma said slowly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world._

_This time, the captain really gave him a look that suggested he was out of his mind._

_With anybody else, Ryoma would have been impatient with them for not catching on. Teasing Tezuka Kunimitsu on the other hand, was not an every day occurrence._

"_You don't do it very loudly. Just once almost all the noodles are in your mouth you have a tendency to slurp the last bit in. Don't be embarrassed, it's almost cute."_

"_Nonsense." With that, Tezuka had promptly ignored Ryoma and continued eating. As the chopsticks made their way to his mouth a look of surprise crossed Tezuka's usually stern face. Tezuka had indeed caught himself slurping, as Ryoma had put it. _

_He looked towards his kouhai. The boy didn't react at all; he calmly ate his own noodles. Tezuka continued to eat a moment after but not before a very loud 'slurp' broke the distance._

_The freshman grinned expectantly at the senior. Tezuka continued to ignore him. _

End flash back

Another time they had stopped by a bookstore and browsed, reading was their second shared passion. Tezuka's language skills were undeniably the best at Seigaku. His Japanese writing and reading would surpass that of most high school students. Ryoma knew this but Tezukas's fluency in English had exceeded all of Ryoma's expectations. The boy was undoubtedly impressed by his sempai. He was even more impressed with the fact that Tezuka could articulate but chose not to. The intensity in the way Tezuka scanned the books was interesting to say the least. It brought a whole other dimension to the way Ryoma viewed him. Not just his serious diligent side, but what he was interested in..

The dates – if they qualified as dates at all had not been what either of them had expected at all. Tezuka had not been what he had expected, not a bad thing, just _different._

A soft sigh escaped Ryoma's lips as he leaned back on his chair contemplating all of this. He knew that others were starting to notice. It wasn't that he cared what others thought, it was just annoying to deal with.

Flashback

_Quietly napping at the base of a tree trunk, Echizen Ryoma basked in the gentle afternoon breezes, grateful for the shade. _

_The third year tensai walked in stride with Inui as the two of them conversed in low voices. A pair of ears perked up but Ryoma remained motionless, careful not to give away his position._

"_Tezuka has certainly taken an interest to Ryoma," Inui murmured._

"_Is that so? I hadn't noticed," Fuji replied. The reply was casual enough in tone but Inui knew better. Fuji was quite possibly the most observant member of Seigaku, even more so than Inui. _

"_I would assume so. Echizen will be his successor; he wants to leave Seigaku in capable hands. If the team consented to it, Echizen will be vice captain in his second year," Inui noted coolly._

"_Maybe."_

_The two of them strode past the tree where the first-year was no longer napping. Echizen grasped the grass tightly, looking mildly discomforted. He could feel Fuji's gaze on him, subtle, brief but it was there._

"_Or maybe, it's a personal interest?" Inui suggested._

_Fuji didn't reply._

_They continued walking._

End flash back

Karupin titled his head to the side as he gazed up at his master. It was startling how surreal the boy could look while he pondered such serious issues. He purred softly and nuzzled his leg.

Ryoma's train of thought was disrupted by a soft beeping noise, indicating that he had received mail.

The optical mouse expertly maneuvered around the screen. The little hourglass appeared as the page loaded.

"_Sign in. I want to have a word with you."_

_Tezuka_

This surprised Ryoma. Even after they spent time with each other, Tezuka hardly felt the need to initiate a conversation. Any small talk exchanged between the two had been kept to a minimum. Most of the time, they simply observed things together, sharing what felt necessary. The silence had gradually become to fade but only by there own standards.

Ryoma signed into MSN.

_Tezuka Kunimitsu: _

_Oishi tells me your effort in practices has been decreasing. You do realize it's not acceptable to reduce your efforts just because of your match with Sanada. Nationals are coming up._

_Echizen Ryoma:_

_You made me come online for that? Che. I'm going to sign off now._

_Tezuka Kunimitsu:_

_Echizen._

Ryoma could practically here the low, stern, reprimanding tones of his buchou.

_Echizen Ryoma:_

_You're not going to assign laps all the way from Germany are you?_

Provoking people for a reaction had always been one of his favorite past times. Don't misunderstand, Ryoma respected Tezuka a lot, more than he respected any one else he liked to tease. Tezuka Kunimitsu was just, especially fun to poke at. He was a challenge and even finding buttons had been difficult, but not impossible.

_Echizen Ryoma:_

_Sorry. I'll try to improve my effort._

_Tezuka Kunimitsu:_

_Good to hear._

_Echizen Ryoma:_

_This is stupid. Hold on a sec._

**_Echizen Ryoma has invited you to start a viewing web cam. Do you want to Accept or Decline the invitation?_**

The chat session doubled in width and a black box quickly loaded.

"Good to see you again buchou." Ryoma said softly.

"Like wise."

"How did your world history exam go?"

Ryoma briefly searched through his binders beside him, flipping quickly through the pages. His binder snapped open and he held the paper to the camera. A red ninety-eight scrawled at the top.

Tezuka nodded approvingly but his held his tongue back from asking where he lost the two marks.

"I read the article you wrote on tennis in Germany."

"You could understand it?" Tezuka knew Ryoma's English was probably above his own but to understand German as well…

"No, sempai-tachi was translating it in the library. They gave me a copy to read at practice. It was pretty good. I'm interested to see what type of skills you'll develop while your there."

"Echizen, you should be more concerned about the opponents you have in front of you."

"So when are you coming back?"

A question they both dreaded the answer to.

Silence.

Ryoma changed the subject.

"My mom bought a new digital camera. She wanted some pictures of the team. Kikumaru-sempai grabbed it out of my hands and than Fuji from there. Do you want me to send them?"

Tezuka nodded.

"I wanted to delete a few but sempai-tachi said you would want to see the more natural poses of us as well."

The transfer of files took no time at all. Ryoma silently counted how many times Tezuka clicked the mouse after he opened the folder.

He clicked through the digital photo album and glanced at the contents: a team photo of everyone, a picture of Oishi and Eiji grinning into the camera, one of Fuji enjoying sushi at Kawamarus' restaurant after the Rikkai match, another picture of Kaidoh chasing Momoshiro, one of Ryoma in Tezuka's own Seigaku jacket..

Echizen counted five clicks.

"Sempai-tachi was joking about how I was going to be the new captain in a year or so and they grabbed your jacket off the shelf," Ryoma explained.

"Than Fuji-sempai said something about how you always say "Be the Pillar of Seigaku" but you really mean "Be my Pillar."

Echizen normally would not have repeated anything along these lines but it had been several weeks since Tezuka had gone. Since than practice hadn't been the same. Ryoma hadn't been the same. He waited for it.

The corners of Tezuka's mouth tugged upwards but he tried to keep his expression in check.

Ryoma grinned inwardly.

"Hmm buchou, if I'm not mistaken I'd say you were blush-"

**_Tezuka Kunimitsu has ended this web cam session._**

The sixth picture had Ryoma glaring at the camera this time with lens less glasses Ryuzakki sensei had confiscated from Momoshiro. Ryoma was clearly impersonating Tezuka in this picture. Tezuka smiled in spite of himself. He had to admit, the cheeky brat would make a cute pillar of Seigaku. Short, but strong. Tezuka had yet to share his own snide replies with Ryoma. He wouldn't always take Echizen's little comments lying down.

Beep beep! Beep beep!

Tezuka's cell phone rang. He didn't need to guess who it was.

"Ne buchou. I have that video session on record."

Tezuka groaned.

Owari

PockyBox

Authors Notes: I know.. Grammatical errors and characterization problems. Please don't hesitate to send any constructive criticism. Thanks!


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